Sassedelphia - random facts concerning Jean de Crevecoeur

Born in France 1735
Lived with relatives in England in 1754 and learned English
Lieutenant of the French Colonial Militia during the French and Indian War
- Injured during the war and forced to leave
- Moves to New York and changes name becoming a new person - never discussing military again
Naturalized in New York as J. Hector St. John de Crevecoeur
Bought farm in Orange County (in New York) and became a prosperous farmer
During the American Revolution, the Britished imprisioned him as an American spy
1782 – Letters from an American Farmer
- First to describe life on American frontier to Europeans and explain the American Dream.
Came back to America after Treaty of Paris in 1783 to find his wife dead and farm destroyed.
1801 – Voyage dans la Haute-Pensylvanie et dans l’état de New-York
- Three volumes that were not widely circulated
- Not translated to English until 1964
More Letters from the American Farmer published posthumously
Trapped in the French Revolution during a visit to French
- Went into hiding because of his aristocrat status
- Tried to get back to the US but couldn’t so he settled in France and died there on November 12, 1813

Print from Crevecoeur's Voyage dans la Haute-Pensylvanie et dans l’état de New-York